Through the Haze - Part Sixteen

Sometimes you have to believe in yourself to make things happen. --Angie Galione, Book of Hope
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Isaac gasped as he awoke, sweat beading his forehead. His eyes darted around wildly, taking in his surroundings. Breathing a sigh of relief, he tried to calm his racing heart. It was just a dream, another nightmare. It wasn't real. He tried to shift, but found that he was far too stiff, and it gave him aches and pains that left him panting for breath as he gazed up at the ceiling.

The room he was in was dark and quiet, the window letting him see that it was dark out. He tried to move again, but it was too much. He wasn't ready yet. He might not be ready for a while. Slowly, he was able to curl and uncurl his fingers, though they were rather stiff and unwilling to do as he told them. He wondered, briefly, why it was so cold in the room, and then decided that Roo had left a window open somewhere. The door to the room was open, so maybe it was the hallway window that was open, allowing the breeze from outside to filter into the house and chill him.

He shivered, sweat still beading his forehead. He snuggled a little deeper into the blanket that covered him, wishing for more warmth. He tried to grip the cover to pull it over him a little more, but his hand wouldn't grab it. He felt sluggish and woozy. He tried to sit up, to maybe get the cover in a different way, but his side ached and screamed in protest, forcing him back down. Deciding that that wouldn't work, he tried to slide down a little further to push the cover up around his neck.

While trying to slide down, he got tangled in the cover and started to roll off. His legs slide off, but he was unable to push himself back up. He was too sore, too weak. Too tired and drained of his energy. He slid the rest of the way off of the bed, hitting the ground hard on his back. It sent flashes of white hot pain soaring through his body, leaving him gasping for breath. His ribs ached and pained him, forcing him to breathe short, rigid breaths rather than the deep ones he so desperately wanted.

For what seemed like ages, he lay there, gasping in pain, unable to move, before the lights turned on in the room, blinding him with their brightness as he stared up at the ceiling, pain clouding his vision and putting a dreadful haze in his mind.

"Isaac!" a voice gasped, and hurried footsteps echoed toward him. "Isaac, are you okay? God, I told you to take it easy!" Roo knelt down next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder to keep him still. "Don't move."

Isaac couldn't help but try to move, to shift and ease some of the pain shooting through his body.

"Stop!" Roo said, forcing him down a little harder. "Don't move, Isaac. Hold still. Stop, please, don't move." He gripped Isaac's other shoulder as well, to keep him from trying to move. "What hurts?"

"...Ribs....Back...." he choked out between gasps of breath, sweat beading his forehead. "Everything...."

Roo frowned. "Try not to move, okay? I'll be right back." he jumped to his feet and hurried out of the room.

Isaac focused on breathing for the time being, trying to keep the pain at bay. To pass the time, he slowly curled and uncurled his fingers, trying to ease himself to sleep, though he was sure that that wouldn't be happening anytime soon.

Before too long, Roo came back into the room, with Hanz following after him. Hanz didn't look so disgruntled anymore, he looked actually concerned. They both bent down next to him, each putting a hand on his shoulders.

"How you feelin' kid?" Hanz asked.

Isaac took in a breath to talk, but wound up gasping in pain as it shot through his body. Hanz and Roo steadied him before he moved too much.

"Don't move," said Roo, looking worried. "Hanz, help me get him back into bed. Make sure you don't move him very much, if you have to at all."

Hanz nodded and put his hands under Isaac's arms, lifting his upper body up. Roo got his legs and lifted them up, and together, they placed him back down on the bed as gently as possible.

Roo pulled the cover up and around his neck as Isaac stared up at the ceiling. "Thanks, Hanz."

Hanz nodded. "Make sure he takes it easy. He's never going to heal if he keeps that up," he grunted as he left the room.

Roo sighed and looked at Isaac. "I told you to take it easy. What were you thinking?"

"...Cold...." he murmured weakly.

Roo frowned and moved away fro a minute. When he came back into view, he had another cover in his hands. "Why didn't you tell me earlier? I would have gotten you another." he draped it over him. "Why'd you try to move?"

"...Cold..."

Roo sighed heavily. "I'll get you some sort of bell or something to ring if you need something. But please, Isaac, don't do that again. You scared me to death when I came in here and saw you lying on the ground like that. Don't ever do that again, okay?"

"....Kay..."

Roo breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay. Good. You scare me like that again, and I'll have to get rough."

Isaac tried to smile, but it was rather weak and didn't much look like a smile. Roo sighed again and turned toward the door.

"Is there anything you need before I go?"

"...No..."

"Okay. Please, don't move anymore. Your ribs will never heal if you keep doing damage to them. Take it easy, and I'll be back to check up on you later." and then he left the room.

Isaac sighed heavily and closed his eyes, trying to force the pain to leave him alone.
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Gabriel sighed heavily as he gazed up at the ceiling, a throb pounding in his head. Lou was watching him from where he sat on the floor as Gabriel curled and uncurled his fingers. "How're you feeling, Gabe?" Lou asked, his voice strangely neutral.

"Same..." he mumbled. "I'm...sick of this...."

"Me too," Lou breathed. "But don't worry, you're bound to get better here sooner or later, Gabe."

Gabriel sighed heavily. 'I wish it were that simple, Lou, I really do.'

"Your fever still hasn't gone down," Lou said softly. "But it hasn't gotten any worse, that's a god thing. I wish there was more I could do, but...I'm fresh out of ideas."

"It's okay..." Gabriel murmured. "You've....done....a lot, thanks..."

Lou sighed heavily. "I wish I could to more, though...I'm sorry."

"Don't...blame...yourself."

Lou said nothing for a long moment, then, "Get some more rest, Gabe. You need all the rest you can get. We'll leave tomorrow."

"No..." he murmured, feeling himself fade out again. "We...have to....leave now..."

"I'm sorry, Gabriel, but we can't. You're in no condition at the moment."

"No...going to be....any better later..."

Lou sighed heavily again. "Okay. Fine. But in a little while, alright? Right now, I want you to rest."

Gabriel sighed, but complied and did as he was told, allowing his eyes to slip closed. He was sick of feeling sick all of the time, of being cold and feeling drained. He hated it, and wished he would get better already, but he knew that wasn't going to happen.

For whatever reason, he was being atacked by the chill. His gift wasn't protecting him from it as it should. In fact, it was turning against him, and he hadn't the slightest idea as to why. He hated it, absolutely despised it.

He needed to get to the other two gifted, though so far, he only knew where Isaac was. Whoever the other gifted was, he hadn't the slightest idea as to their location.

And it may prove to be the death of him.
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Karaya glared at the ground from where she was chained and gagged. A fire was going a little ways away, with people gathered around it. She couldn't see their faced, for they always wore hoods when they came within view. The food she got wasn't very good, but when she was hungry enough, she knew she'd gladly gulp it down.

She wondered fearfully about Cassius, about his condition and how he was doing, if he was even still alive. She prayed he was doing okay, that he wasn't dead or dying, but it was hard. Her hopes were crushed with every hour she was away from him in his time of need.

She felt uneasy here, and hated it. She wanted to get free, to run and hide, but right now her chances didn't look good. The guy who had brought her here, she had learned, was called Gilb. Gilb was a grumpy man with lightening quick reflexs, she remembered.

How had Gilb been able to move so fast? She wanted to know the answers to her questions, but knew now wasn't the time to ask them. They only took the gag out of her mouth when she was to eat or drink something, not to talk. They didn't want her to talk, didn't want to hear her voice.

Only Gilb had been dealing with her so far, except for one other when Gilb wasn't around to feed her one day.

She sighed heavily and bowed her head, feeling defeated. What was she going to do?